Compartés has a five-piece box of holiday yumness.

Published Dec 24, 2015 at 12:34 PM

Receive the latest the-scene updates in your inbox

The cinnamon bun meets the chocolate truffle at LA's own Compartés Chocolatier.

While the wafting scent of a cinnamon bun may instantly transport us to our local mall or the airport food court or another place well-suited to walking while eating, there is a time of the year where the rich, gooey fragrance is all about the pleasures of home.

It's Christmas we quite obviously speak of, a day that begins not only with the opening of the stockings but also the sliding of the cinnamon buns into a warming oven. Pull-apart breads tend to reign on the holiday both for early-morning ease and their ability to feed a crowd. And no one wants to be stuck in the kitchen, creating a huge brunch, while the kids are going at their gifts with glee.

Compartés Chocolatier, the longtime LA-based gourmet sweet maker, is in tune with what many of us stickily consume come Christmas morning. Among the company's many top-shelf truffles are its cinnamon bun truffles, which come complete with a wee penguin on top to up the general whimsy.

French toast in a truffle feels like something all French toast fans and devoted trufflests might have been longing for, but didn't quite know how to put that particular longing into words. Long no more: It exists.

Of course, the creations of chocolate wiz Jonathan Grahm, the innovator who took over the 65-year-old company, also run along the lines of the tried-and-true truffle, too, if you prefer your cinnamon bun to arrive on a pan and not in a box.

Most bun buffs, though, would say however a cinnamon bun shows up, or a piece of French toast, or a slice of apple pie, is mighty dandy, be it in a small potent square of cocoa goodness or on a plate.

Southern California, by the by, has become quite the hot -- er, haute? -- spot for interesting sweets/food combos. Look to Salt & Straw on Larchmont, which is currently serving mincemeat ice cream.

A French toast truffle follow-up doesn't seem all that unusual, now, does it?